


Hologram.

by ArtemisPanthar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, contains spoilers of the episode "Steven the Swordfighter"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1473043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisPanthar/pseuds/ArtemisPanthar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events of the episode "Steven the Swordfighter" told from the perspective of the hologram.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hologram.

\--

The connection was gone. Unprecedented. What once it was tethered to vanished in an instant and it was left alone, directionless. It lacked the ability to feel and so had no point of reference to comprehend the hollow absence of what had always been there. Receiving no instructions, it reverted back to its core programming – FUNCTION COMPLETE. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER DEFEATED. LEVEL ONE FAILED.”

It stood at attention and awaited a command. A Tall Red and a Floating Purple quickly moved toward the Small Pink, ignoring it all together. The Floating Purple became a Short Purple. Significant? SAVING… The colors were speaking but it could not recognize any commands. It waited. After a time, Tall Red stood up.

“Come on, let’s go. We can wait in your room.” Said the Tall Red. It recognized the command. INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

\--

The colors stopped suddenly and it found they were in a large room, one which it had never known and yet it recognized. A memory from the Creator? It did not have access to this before. The colors were speaking amongst themselves. Tall Red turned and walked toward it.

“Stay here. Don’t move.” Tall Red commanded. It invoked a memory. Caring and respect. SAVING… INITIATING WAIT COMMAND…

Something was thrown over it, impairing its vision. It could now only see vague shadows move around in front of it. No longer needing to devote as much energy to vision, it rechanneled the energy into its voice recognition. A tall shadow and a short shadow stood in front of it and spoke.

“Uh…you’re just going to leave it there?”

“Yes.”

“That’s dumb. Just break it up, it’s weird and it’s taking up space.”

 “NO!” A smaller shadow ran in-between the two shadows. “Please! Leave it!”

“What!? Why?”

“Please, it’s not hurting anyone! It’s not doing anything anymore! Let it stay!”

“Steven. You know that isn’t Pearl.”

“I know that! But-but what if she needs it? What if she can’t come back without it? What if… I don’t know! I just…I can’t…I don’t want to lose her again…not today. Please…”

A pause.

“OK Steven. It can stay.”

“Seriously? I don’t wanna be around that thing, its so creepy!”

“It stays.”

“…Fine.”

“Oh, thank you Garnet! Thank you Amethyst! It’ll be OK, you’ll see! I bet this will be the shortest wait ever!”

The shadows walked away and although it could still hear them speak, it could not make out the words. Hours passed and the room became quiet. Every so often a soft sound could be heard. It did not recognize it, not completely, but it was similar to the sound a challenger makes when in pain. It did not understand. No activity. INITIATING ENERGY SAVER MODE…

\--

14 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 53 seconds. This is the longest span of time it has existed. No one has spoken to it since it was commanded to wait. It has done nothing but watch the shadows and listen to the words. It has recorded the pattern of behavior of the shadows. The smallest shadow passes by the most. Sometimes the smallest shadow stands before it and makes the pain noises. The other shadows avoid it, the smallest shadow is the only one that wants to acknowledge it’s presence.

It has learned new words and phrases. Please. Come Back. Oops. Hurry Up. It Will Be OK. It’s Raining. Don’t Worry. Cereal. It attempted to comprehend the meanings but some did not have enough context.

The small shadow moved outside its vision but it could still hear the shadow moving around. Suddenly a loud noise and though it could not see the source, somehow it knew it heralded the return of the other two shadows. They were speaking. After a few minutes, the shadows approached. Suddenly, its vision was restored. Small Pink stood before it. INITIATING CHALLENGE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?”

“ Steven, ugh, cover that thing back up.” Short Purple, which had become Floating Purple again, approached. Floating Purple’s face changed when it spoke about it but it could not comprehend what that might mean. It had no programming for facial recognition, when it attempted to query the information in it’s memory it returned with vague memories. Imprints from the creator? Frustration at Floating Purple but also caring. It did not understand. These memories were new, it could not access them before. SAVING… Are there more?

“But it’s like Pearl! Look at it.”

“Yeah…that ain’t Pearl.”

“Well, maybe I can get it to act like her.”

“I doubt it…but whatever, have fun with that.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna hang around that thing. I’m gonna go see what Garnet’s doing. Later” Floating Purple shouted while moving away. There was a sound like a door sliding open.

“Uh, well OK, have fun!” Small Pink moved its arm around as it spoke. A challenge? No, it was a non-threatening pattern. Creator moved it’s arms around with great frequency but only some patterns issued a challenge. It would wait.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me!” Small Pink looked up at it and paused, as though expecting a response. Did it issue a command? It queried it’s memory bank and returned with nothing. After a moment, it queried it’s memory for impressions of Small Pink. Impressions of deep caring and desire to protect. SAVING… “Er, right. Are you ready to learn how to be like Pearl? Follow me! It’s time for your first lesson.” INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

Small Pink led it up a small flight of stairs to what appeared to be a smaller room within the larger room. Small Pink stopped and turned toward it, motioning to the floor. There were small objects scattered all over. Obstacles.

“Here we have a mess! Organizing messes is one of Pearl’s favorite hobbies. Here…” Small Pink crouched down to the floor and moved the objects around. “Pearl likes to organize them by type. Animal…humanoid…miscellaneous…Now you try!” Small Pink presented an object to it. To classify? SCANNING…object, humanoid-shape. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED… INITIATING BASIC COMBAT MODE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“YOU’VE DRAWN YOUR SWORD IN VAIN.” SCANNING… TARGET LOCKED…

“What!?” Small Pink screamed and fell to the ground. The object was thrown into the air. MISSING COORDINATES… SCANNING…TARGET LOCKED… THRUST… It hit it’s target, skewering the object on it’s sword. Threat neutralized. FUNCTION COMPLETE… RETURN TO DEFAULT STANCE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER DEFEATED.”

“Uhm…maybe we need to try something else…” Small Pink stood up. Small Pink turned and looked out the window. “Oh! I know! Come on!” INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

“Me and Pearl sometimes go for walks on the beach and talk about stuff! Now, I know you’re not a big talker but that’s OK! I’ll do the talking this time. It’s very nice and there’s nothing for you to fight out there…oh wait!” Small Pink stopped abruptly before they got to the door. Small Pink pointed to the sword it was holding. “You can’t bring that out there. Give it to me, please.”

It did not have programming for that command but it scanned it’s memory for a similar function. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It loosened it’s grip on the sword, allowing Small Pink to remove it. It’s hand was left grasping open air.

“Er…OK…that’s a little weird. Let me see if I can find something to…aha! Here!” Small Pink moved around a pile of objects before picking up a long, hooked object.

“Pearl always says to bring an umbrella on cloudy days like this. It’s the perfect thing for you to hold. Here…” Small Pink attempted to awkwardly jam the object…classification: umbrella. SAVING… into it’s hand. It opened and closed it’s hand to grasp the handle. WEAPON CHANGE COMPLETE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“DO YOU WISH TO BATTLE?”

“No! Ugh…just… come on…” INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

\--

It followed Small Pink out of the house and down a flight of stairs. It had never been outside before. It looked around, observing the surroundings. SAVING… Tall Red and Floating Purple stood some distance before them. Floating Purple was floating even higher than before, only connecting to the ground through Tall Red. Small Pink stopped suddenly and laughed. It was a different laugh than the laugh it was programmed with, lacking any aggression. SAVING…

“Pearl always likes to tease Amethyst when she does funny stuff like this!” Small Pink stated. New words. It queried it’s memory. Tease. To incite or provoke. To anger. Classification: aggression. COMMAND RECOGNIZED… INITIATING PRE-FIGHT SEQUENCE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“I WON’T GO EASY ON YOU THIS TIME!”

“That’s the spirit!” Small Pink shouted, running over to Tall Red and Floating Purple. INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

“What’re you rascals doin’ over here?” Small Pink stood in an aggressive stance. INITIATING PRE-FIGHT SEQUENCE… INITIATING CHALLENGE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“DRAW YOUR WEAPON CHALLENGER!” It brandished its weapon with a flourish, just as its programming dictated. Small Pink fell to the ground again. Significant? SAVING… Tall Red did not react. The end of the umbrella opened suddenly with a pop sound. It became a new weapon. SAVING… Floating Purple changed its face but directed its attention to Small Pink.

“Ugh, Steven, why are you still hanging out with that thing? It’s gross.” Floating Purple made a strange noise and a cloud of water vapor floated out of its face. It had never seen that happen before. SAVING…

“I just really miss spending time with Pearl…”

“Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven. Have patience… And stop hanging out with that thing. It’s creepy.” Tall Red released Floating Purple, who then floated even higher in the air before eventually disappearing from range of vision.

“Uhm…is she going to be OK?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Please remember what I said.” Tall Red walked away. Small Pink stayed dormant for a few minutes before standing up.

“They might be right but…you look so much like her. And she made you! There’s got to be some of her in there, right?” It did not know. But it had found some memories it did not know it was programmed with before. Memories of Small Pink, Floating Purple, and Tall Red. So it may have memories of the Creator as well. It queried its memory banks. Vague memories, impressions of thoughts, concepts of feelings. A compulsion to reassure. Yes, some of the Creator was in its programming. INITIATING RESPONSE…LOADING SOUND FILE…FILE NOT FOUND… It searched for a similar file. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“OPENING DETECTED.” Small Pink sighed in response and began to walk down the beach. INITIALIZNG FOLLOW COMMAND…

They walked for a while in silence. Without anything to demand its attention, it queried its memory bank in search of more hidden memories. It wanted to learn more. It did not know it could want. SAVING… Lacking a specific subject to search for, it brought up all logged information. It searched it’s sound recording log for patterns. SCANNING…  PATTERN FOUND…Tall Red and Floating Purple rarely issued any commands to it. Whenever they spoke of it, it was in negative terms. Creepy. Gross. Not. But Small Pink did not. Small Pink spoke to it, even though it could not understand every word, issued it commands. Small Pink did not refer to it in negatives. It wanted to know more about Small Pink. SCANNING… PATTERN FOUND… Small Pink consistently classified as Steven in dialogue threads. Classification: Steven. SAVING…

“Oh! The boardwalk! This is perfect! Everybody loves the boardwalk. Come on, I’ll show you some fun stuff I like to do here!”

\--

Steven stopped in front of a large machine. The top was glass and it appeared to be filled with soft things. A claw dangled over the mass of soft things. Dangerous? The claw did not appear to move. Steven started to pry the umbrella out of its hand. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE…

“Here’s a game that’s pretty fun. See that claw? You use this stick to move it around. Your goal is to pick up one of those stuffed animals and then the claw will drop it over there. Then you win and you get to take the stuffed animal home! Understand?” Soft things classification: stuffed animal. SAVING… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“BEGIN.” Steven’s face changed, similar to when it laughed on the beach. It classified this as a positive change. SAVING… Steven moved its empty sword-hand to the machine’s controls. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It closed its hand on the controls. Steven put something in the machine, causing it to light up and make noises. Steven pressed a button. The machine hummed. After 30 seconds, the claw came down on the toy drop spout, closing around nothing. It brought itself back up and opened. The humming died down and the lights dimmed.

“Aww man. Holo-Pearl, we just went over this! You have to move the stick around. Like this!” Steven waved its arm around, similar to swordfighting. Similar to a battle? LOADING SOUND FILE…

“BEGIN.” Steven activated the machine again and pressed the button. The machine hummed. INITIATING BASIC ATTACK MODE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“PARRY. PARRY. THRUST.” It followed the basic attack sequence, manipulating the control stick in time. Steven made a pained noise. The claw moved awkwardly within the machine. After 30 seconds, the claw dropped and closed around the head of a large gray stuffed animal. The claw lifted the object and brought it over to the spout, dropping it. CHALLENGE COMPLETE… INITIATING QUERY…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER DEFEATED. DO YOU WISH TO BATTLE AGAIN?”

“N-no! You won, the game is over.” Steven pulled the large gray stuffed animal from the machine. Steven had water coming out of its face but after a moment quickly wiped it away. SAVING… INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It released the controls and turned to face Steven. Steven tried to shove the stuffed animal into its hand but it wouldn’t fit.

“Do…you want me to carry this for you?” It queried it’s memory bank. It had no use for the object. It had impressions that the object would be better for Steven to have. It searched it’s sound files for a way to express this. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“YOU HAVE WON THIS ROUND.”

“You…want me to keep it?” It searched it’s sound files again for a more appropriate clip. It found none. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“YOU HAVE WON THIS ROUND.” Steven stared at it for a few moments before making a positive change to its face. SAVING… Steven squeezed the stuffed animal with its arms.

“Thank you. That’s… just what Pearl would do too. Maybe the lessons are working! Now I wanna get you something too…maybe…a balloon animal!” Steven shouted and started to run down the boardwalk. INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

Steven was speaking to a Large Spotted Purple when it caught up. The Large Spotted Purple seemed to be considering its next move. Classification: possible threat? After a moment the Large Spotted Purple took strips of yellow and purple, expanding them with the aid of a machine. Large Spotted Purple moved its arms around and twisted the inflated colors into a new shape. It did not recognize this shape. Steven looked at it expectantly. Steven then picked up the shape and attempted to make itself taller.

“It’s a duck crown. It goes on your head! Like…hang on…like…” Steven attempted to place the crown on its head but lacked the height needed. It considered a solution. INITIATING PRE-FIGHT SEQUENCE… INITIATING BOW… It bent at the waist and lowered it’s upper body so the Steven could reach it’s head. Steven paused a moment before placing the crown atop it’s head. RETURNING TO DEFAULT STANCE…

“Uh, thanks! Now you need something for that hand…I can get you a balloon sword if you promise not to fight with it…” LOADING SOUND FILE…

“BEGIN.” Steven motioned to the Large Spotted Purple. Large Spotted Purple appeared reluctant. Large Spotted Purple then picked up a strip of blue and inflated it in the same way as before. Large Spotted Purple twisted the blue into a new shape. A sword. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. INITIATING BASIC ATTACK MODE… SCANNING… TARGET LOCKED… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“YOU HAVE MET YOUR MATCH, CHALLENGER!” It struck out at the Large Spotted Purple but it found it was not wielding a weapon. Its hand waved uselessly in the air. Large Spotted Purple jumped and backed away, dropping the balloon sword. Threat neutralized. FUNCTION COMPLETE…RETURN TO DEFAULT STANCE… The Large Spotted Purple shouted at Steven. Steven said the word “sorry” a lot. Steven handed the Large Spotted Purple some paper, then picked up the balloon sword. Steven motioned frantically for it to follow before running down the boardwalk. INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

Once they were out of sight of the Large Spotted Purple, Steven stopped abruptly and turned toward it. “What was that!? You just promised you wouldn’t fight! You were doing so well too… but maybe Garnet and Amethyst are right. Maybe you can’t be taught…” Steven changed its face in a negative way. It found it did not like that. It did not know it could have preferences. SAVING… It did not understand. It “promised” to not fight with the balloon sword and it did not fight with the balloon sword. But the Steven was negative because of it. It did not understand.

“Maybe you’re just not ready to be around people yet… You’re probably more comfortable holding something, aren’t you?  Here…” Steven held out the balloon sword, pushing the handle toward it. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It reached out and took the sword. Steven turned and crossed the boardwalk, walking across a field of grass. INITIATING FOLLOW COMMAND…

“I know the perfect place. It’s quiet and peaceful, and best of all it was one of Pearl’s most favorite places in the world!”

\--

Steven led it through a field of grass and past a row of pink trees, stopping at the foot of the largest tree. Steven looked up at it, periodically glancing at the tree, as though expecting a response. It did not know what was expected of it and so it did nothing. Steven sighed.

“So…you had fun at the boardwalk, right?” It scanned it’s memory banks. Fun. Enjoyment. It knew these words but did not understand. It recorded a number of interesting events at the boardwalk. It learned new things. Was that fun? It decided that it was. It searched it’s sound files for a clip to express this. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“PARRY.” Steven made a negative change to it’s face. It did not use the appropriate sound file.

“Aww, come on, you gotta work with me here!” Steven looked at the tree. “This is Pearl’s favorite tree. Don’t you recognize it?” It searched it’s memory banks. It had memories of the tree, impressions from the Creator.  A sense of calm. It knew this tree. “What’s on your mind? C’mon, don’t hold back.” CHALLENGE ACCEPTED…INITIATING ADVANCED ATTACK MODE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.” No…

“What!?” Steven shouted and fell to the ground again. It slashed forward with its weapon, cleaving the tree in two. The tree toppled over with a crash sound. “Oh no, the tree!” CHALLENGER DEFEATED… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER DEFEATED.” INITIATING VICTORY STANCE…

“Real Pearl would never do that!” Steven looked at it. Steven made a negative face change at it. “Augh, you’re hopeless! Get away from me!” Steven turned and ran away. RETURN TO DEFAULT STANCE… INITIATING WAIT COMMAND…

It wanted to follow Steven but it knew Steven did not want it to follow. It looked at the fallen tree. It did not want this. It had memory of the tree, positive memory. Impressions of the Creator finding calm from it, a place of reflection. This was not a place of violence, it was a place of thought. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It dropped the balloon sword. INITIATING VISUAL AND AUDIO INPUT SHUT DOWN… It shut off its visual and audio receptors, putting itself in dark silence. It rechanneled most of its energy to search its memory banks. It wanted to know more. It wanted to understand.

Memories. Impressions. Thoughts. Feelings. Scattered and broken, it could not piece everything together. It understood it was not meant to have access to these. An accidental transfer during creation? It deemed that the most likely cause. It found many memories of fighting. Not of itself but of the Creator. With Tall Red, Floating Purple, and a Large Pink. The memories were cluttered, all on top of one another, partial and unclear. It could not understand. Missing memories. What it understood to be feelings of pain, loss, hope, worry. Memories of Steven appeared. Feelings of hope, fear, worry. A desire to protect. The memories of Steven were more coherent than the older memories. It found memories of time spent with Steven. Positive memories. Feelings of happiness. It wanted to find more of them. It scanned its memory banks but found none.

It scanned its memory banks. It has so few memories of itself. Its memory banks were full of stolen half-memories of the Creator. Memories it was not meant to have. Accidental. Was it accidental too? Was it meant to exist without the creator? It found it could learn, it could inform its programming but it could not defy its programming. It did not want to destroy the tree and yet it could not prevent itself from doing so. What was the purpose of learning if it could not act upon its knowledge? It did not understand.

It scanned its memory banks again. It could find no new information. INITIATING VISUAL AND AUDIO RESTART… It turned on its visual and audio receptors. It found itself in darkness. Water was falling from the sky. Suddenly a flash of light followed by a loud boom sound. It queried its memory for a time stamp. It had been 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 27 seconds since Steven ran off. It did not know where Steven had gone, if Steven was safe. It needed to know. It queried its memory for a path home. INITIATING FIND COMMAND…

\--

Upon entering the house it found its sparring sword resting against the wall next to the front door. It was dangerous to leave a weapon lying around for anyone to pick up. INITIATING WEAPON CHANGE… It picked up the sword and looked around. Steven had its back to the door and was taking an object out of some kind of bright machine. It approached. Steven turned and yelled in surprise upon seeing it. It did not want to frighten Steven. It wanted to reassure. It would not allow Steven to come to harm. It will be OK. Was Steven harmed? Why was Steven frightened of it? It scanned its sound files for a way to express any of these thoughts. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“DO YOU WISH TO TEST YOUR SKILLS AGAINST ME IN A DUEL?” It was beginning to become frustrated at its limited sound file library. All it had to choose from were aggressive. It could not reassure with these.

“No! No swordfighting!” Steven shouted and ran away. It did not want to fight. It did not want to fight ever again. It wanted only to protect. It wanted to understand. Steven picked up some objects and began to walk up the steps to the same room Steven had brought it to earlier that day. INITATING FOLLOW COMMAND… A loud boom was heard. Steven turned to face it and stared silently. It wanted to express that it did not want to fight. It only wanted to spend time with Steven, like in the memories of the Creator. It scanned its sound files. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“DRAW YOUR SWORD AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINY.” No, no, that was wrong. If it could edit its sound clips maybe it could be understood, but it lacked the programming to do so.

“No! Leave real Pearl and me alone!” Steven made a negative face change. Steven disappeared for a moment before reappearing and throwing a large object at it. “Go back under your sheet.”

Its vision was impaired again. There was a sudden hollow emptiness within it, a feeling. What it understood to be sorrow. It did not know it could feel. SAVING… Before Steven had tried to help it, teach it, talk to it but now the Steven was negative towards it and yet it still wanted to spend time with Steven. It did not understand. It could now only see shadows but it recalled the path up the stairs. A shadow sat in front of a box of light. Though there was only one shadow it could hear several voices.

“Brother, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me, your…brother. Your technique is—“

“Whoa, this dub is…really good! What do you think, Pearl?” It recognized this as Steven’s voice. It did not know what a dub was or how to respond to the query. It wanted to agree. LOADING SOUND FILE…

“PARRY.” No, that response didn’t work last time. Steven screamed and then made a frustrated noise but did not speak. Steven was ignoring it. The other voices started talking again.

“Brother!”

“Just wait a minute…you’re not my real brother! Boomerang blade!”

“Your technique is impressive, but it won’t be enough!” It could hear the sound of blades clashing. Battle? It could not see but it could hear weapons. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED…INITIATING BASIC ATTACK MODE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“THRUST.” It stabbed forward, hitting the box of light. There was a bright spark followed by darkness. The voices and sound of battle ceased. Steven screamed.

“The TV! Why must you destroy the things I love?” This was not its intention. It only wanted to protect. CHALLENGER DEFEATED…RETURN TO DEFAULT STANCE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER DEFEATED. CONTINUE?”

“I hate you! I hate you! You’re nothing like Pearl! Pearl is smart and she always wants to protect me from danger! All you want to do is fight me!” No. Stop… CHALLENGE ACCEPTED…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.” Steven made an aggressive noise. Something struck it, pushing it backwards.

“All right, fine!” It wanted to stop this. It had to stop this. It did not know how. INITIATING BASIC ATTACK MODE… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“BASIC ATTACK MODE INITIATED.” It was compelled to assume its basic attack stance. It struck out in time with its calls. LOADING SOUND FILE… “PARRY. PARRY. THRUST. PARRY. PARRY. THRUST.”

“Stop saying that!”

“PARRY. PARRY. THRUST.” Suddenly, something hit it in the head. Its attacks ceased. LEVEL ONE DEFEATED… LOADING SOUND FILE…

“BASIC ATTACK MODE DEFEATED.” It attempted to scan its programming for a shut off option but its combat programming took precedence.  INITIATING ADVANCED ATTACK MODE… LOADING SOUND FILE… “NOW INITIATING ADVANCED MODE.”

It shredded the sheet covering it, restoring its vision. Steven stood before it. No longer negative or aggressive, Steven looked what it understood to be afraid. Steven was not a threat. Disengage. SCANNING… TARGET LOCKED… No. Disengage. It struck out. Steven dodged. It struck out again. Steven dodged and ran away. Steven stumbled and fell off the platform into the room below. MISSING COORDINATES… SCANNING… TARGET LOCKED…

It jumped off the platform and thrust its sword downward, burying the blade into a piece of furniture as Steven rolled out of the way. MISSING COORDINATES… SCANNING… TARGET LOCKED… It attempted to scan its programming but too much of its energy was devoted to carrying out its combat function. This was its purpose. It was only a tool of combat and it could not defy its programming. It approached Steven, weapon ready. Steven held the large gray stuffed animal they obtained at the boardwalk out defensively.

“Walrus shield!” It knew now it could not halt its programming but it wanted to protect Steven. Maybe it could stall long enough for Steven to flee. It prioritized weapon targeting. Large gray stuffed animal classification: walrus shield. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… It slashed forward, decapitating the walrus shield. It had hoped that would have last longer. Steven screamed. Threat neutralized.  SCANNING…

“Snacks…pillow…fuzzy flower…boomerang? Boomerang!” Steven picked up an object…classification: boomerang… and threw it. Weapon detected. TARGET LOCKED… It watched the boomerang circle around its head and return to Steven. Threat neutralized. SCANNING…CHANGING TARGET…TARGET LOCKED… Steven screamed, dropping the boomerang and leaping over a table. It struck out, cleaving the table in two and narrowly missing Steven.  It slashed again, Steven leapt to avoid its blade and toppled over a counter.

It understood now. It understood why Tall Red and Floating Purple wanted nothing to do with it and why they warned Steven away. It was dangerous. It had wanted to protect Steven but it could do nothing to stop itself from causing so much destruction. Pain, fear, sorrow, loss. It did not want to be the cause of such negative feelings. It did not want this. It did not want any of this.

It approached, backing Steven into a corner. Steven brandished a long wooden object. That could be a weapon. Classification: weapon. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… It slashed forward repeatedly, Steven parried. Threat neutralized. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… The top of the handle of the weapon fell apart, clattering to the ground. It struck out, Steven dodged. The wooden object became a new weapon. Classification: weapon. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED…

Steven was pinned between it and a cabinet. It was running out of options. It focused all its energy on keeping the weapon locked as the target. It struck out at the weapon. Steven dodged. Threat neutralized. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… It struck out at Steven. Steven dodged. Classification: weapon. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… It stabbed at the weapon. Steven dodged. Threat neutralized. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED…

“Pearl! I should’ve just…” It struck at Steven. Steven dodged. Classification: weapon. Weapon detected. Classification: threat. CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED… “Waited for you to come back…” It struck out at the weapon. Steven dodged. Threat neutralized.  CHANGING TARGET… TARGET LOCKED…

“I should’ve just waited for…” Classification: weapon. No weapon detected. Classification: weapon. No weapon detected. TARGET LOCKED… INITIATING KILL SEQUENCE… No. No. It did not want… It drew back its sword. “…the perfect moment!” It struck down…

“Boomerang blade!” Steven hurled the broken wooden object at it. It became embedded in its torso. ERROR… OBSTRUCTION DETECTED… CHALLENGER WINS…RETURN TO DEFAULT STANCE…LOADING SOUND FILE…

“CHALLENGER WINS.” It stopped. It was over. ERROR… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE…ERROR…OBSTRUCTION DETECTED… It wanted to apologize. It wanted to express that it did not want to fight. It wanted to tell Steven to run, that it was too dangerous to be around. It wanted to protect Steven. ERROR…OBSTRUCTION DETECTED… It scanned its sound files. It did not have the words. Receiving no instructions, it reverted back to its core programming. FUNCTION COMPLETE… INITIATING QUERY… LOADING SOUND FILE… “DO YOU WISH TO DUEL AGAIN?”

“Noooo!” Steven shouted. Steven grabbed the handle of the wooden object and waved it around, dispersing its form. ERROR… VISION RECEPTORS LOST… It could no longer see but it still retained some of its sound receptors, but sound was no coming through clearly. ERROR… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… ERROR… It could hear a door open.

“Ste…ven…we.....rd……ghting…” ERROR….INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… ERROR… It is better this way. ENERGY LOW… ERROR… It is… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… I am dangerous. ERROR… ENERGY LOW…

“……re……al…righ….? Wh…s…oin……n?” ERROR… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE…ERROR… I am not meant to be here. ERROR… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… ERROR…

“O….ust……ing….DIE…” ERROR…SOUND RECEPTORS LOST…

ENERGY LOW… I cannot be here. ERROR… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… ERROR…

I scan my memory banks. ENERGY LOW… I search for a positive memory. A memory from the Creator. ERROR…

Memory found. INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… ERROR… A coherent memory fragment. A feeling of caring. ENERGY LEVEL CRITICAL… ERROR… Tall Red, Floating Purple, and Creator together… INITIATING RECONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE… with Steven. ERROR… It is not my memory but it gives me comfort. ENERGY LEVEL CRITICAL… I did not know I could need comfort. ERROR…

ERROR…

ERROR…

ERROR…

ENERGY DEPLETED…

ERROR…

INITIATING SHUT DOWN…

ERROR…

SHUTTING…

…

…

…

 

 

 


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